Press Release: Operation Bed Roll Delivers Sleeping Mats to United Way Forsyth County December 22

Winston Salem, NC (December 18, 2017) – In the spirit of this season, Operation Bed Roll and Winston Salem Police will deliver over 100 crocheted plastic bag yarn (or plarn) sleeping mats in Winston-Salem at 9 am at the United Way of Forsyth County, 301 N. Main Street, Friday, December 22.

“Greensboro residents have shown the depths of their compassion through Operation Bed Roll, spending hundreds of hours to create sleeping mats for their neighbors,” said Tori Carle, Greensboro Field Operation’s recycling program manager. “Now we’re going to share that generosity with our neighbors in Winston-Salem”

The bed rolls provide an insulated barrier for those who sleep on the ground or are outside for extended periods of time in the winter weather. They will be given to Winston-Salem Police and the United Way to distribute to individuals during their next Point in Time Count, which identifies individuals experiencing homelessness in the community. Forsyth County’s January 2017 Point in Time Count identified 453 people experiencing homelessness, including 25 who were unsheltered.

Operation Bed Roll is collaboration between Greensboro’s Field Operations, Library and Police departments to keep non-recyclable materials out of our landfills – and help some of the community’s neediest residents have a safe place to sleep this winter. Plastic bags and films are not accepted in Greensboro or Winston-Salem’s municipal recycling programs. Plastic bags can get tangled in machinery at the recycling plant. Plastics bags should be recycled at participating retail locations, like grocery stores.

Since its inception in 2016, more than 4,000 people have learned how to make plarn from plastic bags and turn them into crocheted bed rolls with Operation Bed Roll. An estimated 212,000 plastic bags have been kept out of landfills by this project.